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Short version - my once nice beta female dog has become very…

Short version - my once nice beta female dog has become very aggressive toward a new male introduced. I can send a longer version. Not sure how to handle her.

Veterinarian's Assistant: I'll do all I can to help. What is wrong with the dog?

We had two corgis at the beginning of 2017, both about to turn 12. One male (Logan), one female (Rowdy). Rowdy was an extreme alpha and Logan was a beta who would push back if needed. Rowdy was put down in January of 2017. A few weeks later, we got a 5 month old female corgi named Bailey who also appeared to be a beta. She absolutely LOVED Logan, never showing any signs of aggression, even when she turned 2 in 2018. It was perfect harmony. Logan had just turned 14 in September of this year and we knew we wouldn’t have him much longer. We found a 16 month old male corgi named Rusty who was not even a beta – he was a Charlie, if there is such a thing. Not one ounce of aggression in him, just an all-around nice and playful guy. We had the three of them for about a month before Logan was put down.The moment we introduced Rusty, Bailey’s personality completely changed. She became very aggressive toward Rusty, attacking him with no provocation. Rusty would even try to avoid her when he could sense she was eyeing him. When I would come home, I would first pet Bailey. She would immediately start staring at Rusty and then attack him. I began to ignore them when I came home to prevent this. Still, she is constantly being aggressive toward him. He is usually doing nothing other than being happy to be here.This is very frustrating and has been going on for a couple months now. I realize that she is establishing that she’s the boss, but it seems that her aggression isn’t ending. She bites him not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to make him squeal. Any suggestions?

Veterinarian's Assistant: Strange behavior is often perplexing. I'm sure the Dog Trainer can help you.

We had two corgis at the beginning of 2017, both about to turn 12. One male (Logan), one female (Rowdy). Rowdy was an extreme alpha and Logan was a beta who would push back if needed. Rowdy was put down in January of 2017. A few weeks later, we got a 5 month old female corgi named Bailey who also appeared to be a beta. She absolutely LOVED Logan, never showing any signs of aggression, even when she turned 2 in 2018. It was perfect harmony. Logan had just turned 14 in September of this year and we knew we wouldn’t have him much longer. We found a 16 month old male corgi named Rusty who was not even a beta – he was a Charlie, if there is such a thing. Not one ounce of aggression in him, just an all-around nice and playful guy. We had the three of them for about a month before Logan was put down.The moment we introduced Rusty, Bailey’s personality completely changed. She became very aggressive toward Rusty, attacking him with no provocation. Rusty would even try to avoid her when he could sense she was eyeing him. When I would come home, I would first pet Bailey. She would immediately start staring at Rusty and then attack him. I began to ignore them when I came home to prevent this. Still, she is constantly being aggressive toward him. He is usually doing nothing other than being happy to be here.This is very frustrating and has been going on for a couple months now. I realize that she is establishing that she’s the boss, but it seems that her aggression isn’t ending. She bites him not hard enough to draw blood but hard enough to make him squeal. Any suggestions?

Veterinarian's Assistant: What is the dog's name?

Bailey

Veterinarian's Assistant: Is there anything else important you think the Dog Trainer should know about Bailey?

It does sound like she is putting him in his place as many females will do.

How often are you training them in obedience?

What method of training are you doing?

What have you tried so far to stop it?

Ask Your Own Dog Training Question

Customer reply replied 28 days ago

We once had two alpha females and they became blood enemies - had to have one live at my parents, even training with a professional didn't get them to coexist. We never got two females at the same time again.We have not really done much obedience training, but looks like I need to start. As far as trying to stop it, we've waited to greet them when we get home. I've also grabbed on to the girl's collar when I see she is starting to eyeball him.

It may be a good idea to have a trainer do a temperament test on the dog, you may be dealing more with possession aggression, in which case the dog acts out because the other dog gets too close to something (person or item) that the other dog feels possessive over. If it is possession aggression then picking up items the dogs use may help to diffuse it a bit.

I would start obedience training the aggressor on a daily basis so that dog sees you more in the lead roll than it does itself. I would also put the dog on the learn to earn program so it does not have access to whatever it wants when it wants it.

I will direct you to a link that goes over the learn to earn and to links on training in a positive method.

I would get down a leave it command to 100% of the aggressor so you can use this when you see the dog is about to act out.

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